July 10, 2022
Sunday Sermon
BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS
Joshua 1:1-11
The devil is cunning. He hates you. As times goes on and we grow closer to Judgment Day, he is gaining more and more freedom. He is looking for ways to drag you into hell. He knows your weaknesses. He knows what appeals to your sinful nature. He loves to intimidate you and make you scared. He thrives on fear. You are going to need strength and courage to fight against him.
You will also need strength because your own sinful nature is weak. You know how easy it is to fall into temptation, and there’s a part of you that wants to be weak and likes to be lazy. Life seems easier if you just go with the flow and do whatever your sinful nature wants you to do.
Joshua is in an uneasy position. Can you imagine having to fill the shoes of Moses? Taking the place of a man who could speak to God through a burning bush….cast down his rod, and have it turn into a snake, and then retrieve it, and find it a rod again. Can you imagine being a predecessor of a man that could stretch out his rod, and divide the Red Sea…a man that could bring water out of a rock when the people died from thirst.
Not only that…but Joshua now finds himself the leader of a group of people known for murmuring, complaining, backsliding…and wishing they were back where they came from. God now looks at Joshua…and says “You the Man”. There is yet things to accomplish…Moses had led the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, and through many precarious situations…but there is the “land of promise’ still to be claimed. The inhabitants of the land still must be defeated, and dislodged.
How will Joshua manage to do this? What does Joshua need in order to fulfill this awesome task? The answer is that he needs, and has the same thing as did Moses. The power to do such things that Moses did…and to lead as he did are upon Joshua. Joshua has been ordained of God to do this, and God will give to him what he needs to fulfill this calling.
In this chapter God instructs Joshua 3 times to “be strong, and to be courageous”. such easy instructions…. but how is he to be strong, and courageous?
It’s easy sometimes to be cocky, and pretend to be brave…but what Joshua needed was true bravery, and courage.
God not only directs Joshua to be “strong and courageous” …but he dictates to him how to be so. To live the kind of Life that God wants us to in the society that we live in…we too need courage the way that Joshua did…Sometimes it’s difficult to be strong, and courageous.
Let’s take a look at four actions in this lesson that will make us strong and courageous.
I. STAND ON THE PROMISES v. 3
What an awesome promise! Though God’s servant Moses is deceased…his plans, and promises are the same. The God of Moses is the God of Joshua…he makes His promises, He keeps them. If Joshua is to be “strong, and courageous” he must stand upon the promises of the Word of God. If we are to accomplish what God calls us, and instructs us to do…we as well must stand on the promises…the problem is many saints are sitting on the premises instead of standing on the promises.
Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shall condemn.”
II. SENSE THE PRESENCE OF GOD v. 5
As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. How can Joshua lead with confidence, how can he confront the battles that lie ahead? He can because the same God that was with Moses is with him. A God that will not forsake, and one that will not fail. Every place that the sole of Joshua foot touched was to become their land…and every step that Joshua took God was with him. Today, if we are children of God, he has promised in Hebrews 13:5, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” He not only is with us…but is in us.
III. STAY THE PATH v.7&8
If Joshua is to be “strong and courageous” he must stay the path…he must not turn…he must not deviate…he must not compromise…he must not become distracted…he must not become detoured from what the will of God is. He must stay the path set before him. Faithfulness is the key.
v. 7 Be strong and courageous (confident) in obeying God’s law--His Word
Obey all of God’s law
Do not turn away from it.
v. 8 Never stop sharing God’s law (Word)
Meditate on it day and night: To assure obedience.
In 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Sometimes we’re going to get tired of the grind…feel like giving up…feel like giving in…but we must stay the path until the end.
God blesses faithfulness! Compromise leads to chaos…distractions often lead to destruction…but faithfulness leads to fulfillment. Are we being faithful…or is it possible that we’ve gotten off the path God has called us to follow?
IV. STAY THE PROCESS v. 11
What God had told Joshua would have been no good if he had not begun to assimilate this plan. In this verse, Joshua begins the process. He takes action…he begins the task of moving forward. How about us? We have heard the Word of God…sensed His presence, and His leading…but are we still just sitting? What are we waiting for?
Let’s get going. There is ground to cover, battles to be won, Jobs that are unfinished…let’s be strong and courageous” and do it!
LISTEN TO THE WORD AND NOW IT IS TIME TO START THE PROCESS (DOING)
LEADERS! LET US LISTEN TO THE WORD AND BE DOERS.
Be like Joshua when he said in 24:15, if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Responsive Reading: Joshua 1:1-11
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